Posts in Category: Babies

Ava Turns One

One Year Old Child and family Portrait Photography by Pixels On Paper Jefferson NC Photographers Photo

Sweet little Ava enjoyed this one year birthday portrait session almost as much as we did. She toddled with her Mom and Dad all over an Ashe County NC pumpkin patch, with more wardrobe changes than a pop icon on tour. Great facial expressions – check. Cuteness on cue – yup. She loved sharing Zinnias from the fields, laughed at squatting on pumpkins, eagerly tugged on her dad’s beard while giving him Eskimo kisses, and jabbered away in her special language with her Mama. This year has been filled with so much joy in her presence. I’m excited to watch and photograph her in all the years ahead. We LOVE you, Miss Ava.

It’s hard for me to believe that it has been a year since we took her first photos, even though I’ve quite literally watched this child grow. Her parents are close friends of ours. We photographed mom Judy’s maternity portraits, Ava’s newborn portraits, an outdoor orchard session in blooms and a 6-month portrait session where this little nugget looks like a fairy in every image.

During the last 12 months, I’ve given Ava some of my very own clothes, some hand made and others hand-me-downs from when I was a child. My son, Finley, has shown no interest in girlie fashions, and to be honest, I’ve found it hard to resist shopping for frills for her while I’m thrift store shopping. So many options sing out to be hers, even though often I find that she’s going to outgrow them 10 minutes after I drop them off! I’m not even her mom, but the pull is strong ya’ll. I just adore this kid.

I also love her doting, attentive and thoughtful parents. I’m so looking forward to her next year ahead and all the fun, silliness and growth we can expect to see for her.


We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddingsbrides, and special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Newborn Baby Portraits | Sweet Nora

Studio Newborn Portrait Photography by Pixels On Paper Wilkesboro NC Photographers Photo

Eleanor (Nora) is new to the planet, so let’s all keep our voices down until she’s ready for the noise and fun of life. Her siblings will help with that, I’m sure. We had the honor of photographing her parents, including this couple’s engagement and wedding portraits as well as Mom Ashleigh’s bridal portraits. They are an amazing couple, both public servants and both community and family-oriented.

These two wed in 2012 and we’ve seen them around our small town plenty of times since then. After some health complications, Ashleigh planned to have a hysterectomy – it was ON her calendar – and then found out that she was pregnant just a few months prior. God has His plan and timeline, and He answered prayers in a way that He has been doing throughout their marriage. Now, they are a family of five, not counting fur babies.

Little Nora is every bit the baby girl a parent would fall instantly and completely in love with. She’s teeny, she’s bright eyed and she is a near perfect little human. We’re are hungry for more of her and for more time with this family.

I cannot say enough how much I love this family and all that this couple does in their professional roles in public service. But even more, I admire their HUGE hearts and capacity for loving children more than you can possibly imagine. 


We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddingsbrides, and special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Roman Pierce is Six Months | Baby Studio Portraits

“Roman is ‘pure joy and his smile will light up a room.'” Thus saith the mother of three boys. So either he’s pretty delicious or she has become inured to any type of baby behavior that isn’t precious. I’m guessing that it’s the former.

Roman Pierce Six Month old baby and child Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photographers photo

Traci Pierce admits that her third little man is her most mild-mannered, even keeled, and easiest baby. As the photographer of all her sons’ newborn, 6-month and first birthday portraits, I think it’s safe to say that she may have one of each kind of boy. All different and all yummy little individuals.

Traci went with the all white dress code and theme – a choice that is elegant, much like Traci herself. We kept it simple, fun and easy. What mother of three needs extra tasks? You’re right, sweet reader…. NONE!

Older brothers Holden (4 years) and Sawyer (3 years) had basically the same palette for their photo sessions back in the day. The similarities in their faces is uncanny, so I encourage you to check out those blogs featuring them.

The little video packages we create are such a fun way for parents to share the photos from our session with family, keep for posterity, watch and re-watch, and of course use later as bribes.

Roman: you have a cool name, like your brothers’ names. You are already a classic. And like them, you have a sweet face, and some pretty awesome parents. Go get ’em, young man! We love you.


We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddingsbrides, and special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Barrett Turns One

Some photo shoot themes have to be crafted and developed out of thin air. And others are a natural because of family hobbies, vocations, passions, whatever. For Barrett Spillman’s one year portraits and cake smash, the choice of baseball was a home run….. I know. I’m ducking as I type, but this stuff writes itself, you guys!

Mom Elisabeth told me her idea of “MVP of the Year” and to “run with it” and that’s exactly what I did. Both her father and her husband Isaac, play baseball, so this theme felt like a fitting tribute to them and a fun way to celebrate their one year old.

I love doing an outdoor cake smash but rarely get to because many parents prefer to photograph them indoors. Fortunately, these parents weren’t at all worried about their little rookie getting dirty. 

We adore Elisabeth and Isaac and have photographed their engagement, bridal, wedding, Barrett’s newborn portraits and At Home Christmas. So it’s nice to feel relaxed and ready to play with faces we know well. This family is one of those who’ve hired us from the beginning and appreciate the continuity we capture through photo sessions over the years.

Now for some baseball! Thanks to our Parks and Rec director here in Wilkesboro who met with me and gave me full access to newly refurbished baseball fields that were otherwise locked down for the season. It’s hard to have a baseball shoot without the right setting. And thanks to my dear friend Ashley Shumate, the busiest baseball Mom I know. She let me borrow all the baseball gear to bring my vision to life for the Spillmans. 

Pixels On Paper Photography Barrett Spillman One Year Portrait and Cake Smash Photo

Barrett loved being outside, in the dug out, and on home plate and played the role of MVP as if he were born to it! His first birthday cake was a reward, so he was game for just about anything we needed from him. He was a good sport! 

Those expressions during the first taste of icing are always priceless and rewarding. 

We also photographed some studio portraits where Barrett wore an outfit that was a family heirloom. It’s been passed down and worn by other babies in the family turning one before him. Hence the need for these shots to be indoors. I wanted to preserve and protect it for future generations. That and it was 100% wool! To hot for outside. 

Happy Birthday, Young Man!! We’ll see you soon, I hope – whether you’re a sports star or not, we’re fans of yours.

We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddingsbrides, and special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Baby, Baby Series Part 3 – 1st BIRTHDAY & CAKE SMASH

“I just completed my first trip around the sun. Time to start my memoirs.”

If only we could record even the obtuse, undefined, blurry world of a one year old, what an interesting document that would be. What would we glean about ourselves, our sensory experiences and most especially our developing soul? I would love to be tasked with being the documentarian of the Life of the Mind – Year One Project. Here’s more of our son Finley (above) and his first birthday cake smash.

Instead, we at Pixels document the first year from the outside and it culminates with a first birthday cake smash and/or photo session. See more of Sawyer – above – on his first birthday.

Ivy Myers 12 months child and family portrait photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography
Still Life with Ivy & Cake
pixels on paper photography, portrait photography, family portrait photography, photo studio, outdoor portrait photography, photo

Gavin’s birthday party took place at our favorite orchard. Here’s even more from that day!

Carson Mathis one year portrait photography photo
Carson’s Cake Smash

But it’s not all about the sweets and the mess that follows. We ask our client parents to bring other props or take advantage of ours and if possible, we love to take the session from our studio into our portrait garden and yard.

Amelia turns one. First Birthday. Child photography, children photo

See a little more of Ivy’s first birthday and lemonade stand.

What we cannot provide in an internal monologue for your one year olds, we can provide in photography. See some of our other favorites.

And this little man below is Barrett. You’ll see more of his first birthday cake smash any minute now!

Pixels On Paper Photography Barrett Spillman One Year Portrait and Cake Smash Photo

We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddingsbrides, and special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.